CLEANING
AND
DISINFECTING
Best Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Good Idea
Be Careful
Don’t Do It
Follow CDC, State, and
Local Public Health
Guidelines
Be Careful Using
Disinfectants Around
People with Asthma
Don’t Ask Children or
Students to Apply
Disinfectants
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 is mainly
spread through the air. The
risk of getting the virus by
touching a contaminated
surface is thought to be
low.
Disinfectants can trigger an
asthma attack. If you have asthma,
you may need to take extra precautions like avoiding areas where
people are cleaning and disinfecting or making sure the space is
well ventilated.
Disinfectants are powerful
tools for controlling the spread
of disease, and they can harm
kid’s health if used or stored incorrectly. Children and students
should not apply disinfectants,
and they should be kept out of
children’s reach.
Clean Surfaces with
Soap and Water
Be Careful with Fogging,
Fumigating, and
Wide-Area or
Electrostatic Spraying
Don’t Ignore the
Label Directions
Normal routine cleaning with
soap and water lowers the
risk of spreading COVID-19 by
removing germs and dirt from
surfaces. In most situations,
cleaning is enough to reduce
risk.
Make sure your product’s label includes directions for the application method. Follow all directions,
including precautions. If a product
isn’t labeled for these application
methods, using it that way might
be risky or inefective.
Use EPA-Registered
Disinfectants According to Label Directions
Be Careful
With UV Lights or
Ozone Generators
Disinfectants further lower the
risk of spreading COVID-19 by
using chemicals to kill germs.
Use disinfectants on hightouch surfaces when you know
or suspect someone around
you is sick with COVID-19.
UV lights or ozone generators
may be risky or inefective. EPA
cannot verify if or when it is
appropriate to use these devices.
Check out the guidance at:
go.usa.gov/xHckJ
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If you don’t follow the label directions, disinfectant products
may be inefective or unsafe.
Do not apply disinfectants to
skin, pets or food. Do not dilute
disinfectants or mix them with
other chemicals unless the label tells you to. Don’t think that
twice the amount will do twice
the job.
Don’t Use Unregistered
Disinfectants
If a product says that it kills
SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), but it
doesn’t have an EPA registration number, it may not be safe
or efective. Federal law
requires disinfectants
to be registered with
EPA.
For CDC public health guidelines, visit: go.usa.gov/xHc8q
For information on disinfectants, visit: epa.gov/coronavirus
April 2021